Arab Peace Must Precede Israel’s Joining Allied Defense, Agron Says

Gershon Agron, editor of the Jerusalem Post and former spokesman for the Israel Foreign Ministry, told a press conference here that Israel desires that the Arabs sign a peace treaty with the Jewish state before Israel enters the projected Middle East Command. Mr. Agron is now in the United States on behalf of the Israel bond drive.

“If the Middle East Command is based on the Arab states and they refuse to turn armistice agreements into peace treaties with us, then we should hesitate to go into the Command, “Mr. Agron said. He explained that secret military information would be pooled and Israel would be “making a present to countries which have announced their hostility” to the Jewish state. “We want peace treaties,” he emphasized.